After Professor J’s lecture on Frantz Fanon last Thursday,
all I could think about was the party situation she presented to the class in
order to personalize the “gaze” or “look” theory that we talked about in
class. We’ve all been in that
situation whether it be at a party, with a group of friends our family,
etc. Almost every time there’s a
change or something different about us someone will notice and we will step
outside of ourselves and look back at us noticing the same thing and seconding
guessing whether or not it was the right thing to do, to wear, to change,
etc. This analyzing can only be
explained, at least from my point of view, from a social construct and is a
result of going against the social norm.
The main point I wanted to discuss was the ways in which we could
possibly combat these situations where someone is viewed as an object rather
than a human being. In class we
talked about affirmation, objectifying the other person by demeaning them or
combating from a religious perspective.
We came to the conclusion that affirmation and objectification of the
other person does not belittle or cause the other person the same feeling that
is left with the person being “gazed” upon and the religious route, although
one I prefer and wish would solve any situation, in today’s society may not
effect every person in a way that would force them to soul search and realize
the wrong they are doing. I got
the feeling in class that we were not as much looking for a way to make the
other person feel objectified, but rather how we could come out of that
situation at the party without alienating from ourselves and avoid looking at
ourselves in a judging way trying to figure out what we were doing wrong when
in reality we weren’t. In my
opinion, and I think this is more relevant today than in Fanon’s time, but the
authority of the other person either strengthens or weakens the credibility of
the person casting judgment or objectifying another. For example in Fanon’s situation on the train with the child
he could combat what the child said by thinking to himself “you’re just a
child, what do you know” or blaming it on bad parenting. So a way to combat it today would be
noticing the level of credibility of another human being to cast such
objectifying judgments and then decide whether or not it is worth the
analyzation or self-conscious thoughts that go along with being judged. This thought process is very difficult
because most humans take what people say about them very seriously and if not
they definitely think about it for some time, but I think more than ever today
people know when to brush off what people say if it is someone with zero
credibility in their minds. I
guess my question to the class would be is this be a possible process to combat
what we talked about in class and if so what steps would you take? More importantly who would you deem
credible and do you think it would be possible to decipher credible judgments
from ones that are not?
On combating the feeling of being objectified it is possible to say "you’re just a child, what do you know,” but I don't think that is the point Fanon was trying to make. I think the idea was that as children as so impressionable by their environment, the third thought of the person being objectified is usually, "Is that what everyone else thinks?" The first and second thoughts being, "WTH" and "Is there something about me that makes me that." The sting or the feeling of being objectified comes in the third thought because you can't read other peoples minds, but now there exists the chance that you are constantly being seen by others as the object or the insult. That feeling of being objectified is what makes you not a man among men. It's how you start to separate and alienate yourself. In order to combat this feeling, you (the object) have to change the way you think and see the world (Particularly through a true Christian mindset). In response to the class discussion and the use of the word faggot at a party, I would either let the person know that God Loves them and while salvation may be free for those who believe in Christ, it is not cheap, and while no one is perfect, we all need to strive to follow his law. Or in a facade of ignorance, ask them what the word means and use their definition to describe themselves. Then I would go ahead and help them find Christ.
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